GNU nano 9.1 has been released as the latest update to the popular command-line text editor. One visible change concerns search behavior. When a search match fits comfortably within the visible terminal area, Nano now places the viewport flush left where possible.
The release also removes support for the old Mac text file format. Specifically, Nano no longer reads or writes files that use a lone carriage return as their line ending. That legacy format dates back to classic Mac OS and is no longer relevant for modern macOS, Linux, or other Unix-like systems.
Several file-handling issues were fixed as well. Nano can now edit a file named ~, meaning a lone tilde, and reports an error when a filename ends with a slash. Backup handling also received attention. When the --backup option is active and the WriteOut prompt shows [Backup], Nano always creates a backup, and backup files now use the correct full timestamp instead of an incomplete one.
Emergency-save behavior has also changed. When Nano is killed or crashes, any resulting .save file is no longer chmodded to correspond to the original file’s permissions, nor chowned to its owner.
On the interface side, the Ctrl+T toggle between the WhereIs and GoToLine menus has been removed. Additionally, Meta+Insert and Meta+Delete are now valid key names and can be rebound through nano’s configuration file.
Syntax highlighting has been updated too. The C syntax definition now includes several missing C++23 keywords and improves highlighting for hexadecimal and binary numbers as well as boolean constants.
Lua highlighting now includes newer keywords, drops long-deprecated ones, and adds better handling for multiline strings and backslash escapes. The man-page syntax highlighter also recognizes the \[xx] special-character syntax.
Alongside these user-facing changes, nano 9.1 includes extensive internal cleanup. This includes updated gnulib code, safer error checking, memory-leak avoidance, clearer comments, renamed variables and functions, and general source-code maintenance.
For additional details, see the announcement. The full changelog can be found here. Nano 9.1 is available as source code on the official website for anyone who wants to compile it manually. Everyone else can wait for it to arrive in their distribution’s repositories.
